The Charlotte Hornets have not exactly had the season they envisioned thus far in 2022-23. As the end of January approaches, the Hornets are a disastrous 13-35 in Steve Clifford's first season back at the helm. This comes after Charlotte won 43 games and made the play-in tournament in James Borrego's final season as head coach.

The Hornets are firmly in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes and must attack the 2023 NBA trade deadline accordingly. As much as everyone wants to win games, make the playoffs, and compete, that ship has sailed in 2022-23. It is now time to focus on building around your franchise player by looking to the future.

Biggest Hornets Needs

Draft picks, draft picks, and more draft picks. That needs to be the name of the game the Hornets shop some of the veterans to other teams around the NBA. It has been rumored that Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward will likely be available before the deadline. Maybe getting a boatload of picks is not possible, but after the Utah Jazz broke the trade market when they traded away Rudy Gobert & Donovan Mitchell, anything is possible, right?

Everyone knows that the biggest prize in the 2023 NBA Draft is Victor Wembanyama, but there are some big-time names outside of him. Scoot Henderson is likely the consensus No. 2 pick, but other interesting players like the Thompson twins will be available. Amassing as many picks as possible should be the name of the game for the next couple of weeks.

Target young wing players

Hornets rookie Mark Williams has shown that he can be a productive player with the right amount of minutes. He very well could be the answer at center depending on how he develops. So, the main target needs to be a combo guard or a guy who can defend at a high level and knock down open shots. Or a player with high offensive upside to match this era's high-volume 3-point shooting.

Maybe Charlotte targets O.G. Anunoby. He is 25 years old and a is 6'7 lockdown defender who can play a number of positions and guard just about all of them. Saddiq Bey is another player who could be interesting in Buzz City as well. Bey is another wing player who has flashed potential to be a third option and a microwave type of scorer for a team. He is only 23 years old and has room to grow. Why not do it with an elite facilitator like LaMelo Ball?

Sell the vets

The Hornets have a solid crop of veteran contributors on their squad: Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward, Mason Plumlee, and Kelly Oubre Jr. All four guys could be missing pieces to a championship team's rotation. Jalen McDaniels' name has been picking up steam as well because he is a long 3-and-D guy who can play the wing positions. It would make sense to keep him in Charlotte, but if the compensation is right, Mitch Kupchak should entertain that trade.

Contending teams could use the services of all these guys. Hayward has been injury-prone for sure, but in a reduced role where he would not be looked at as the second-best player, he could thrive. A trade package involving these guys might not land you a boatload of draft picks, but young players could be a viable option.

Whatever the Hornets can do to keep LaMelo Ball happy should be their plan. In order to do that, they must build a solid team around him as soon as possible. Although Charlotte will be able to offer more money when extension talks take place, it might not be enough if a winning culture is non-existent. The pressure is on for this team to start building properly. Striking the lottery jackpot would be nice, but more will be needed to turn the Hornets into a contender.